Zelenskyy meets Macron in Brussels
Photo: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron (x.com/EmmanuelMacron)
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron. The meeting, as planned, took place in Brussels, according to the French President.
Macron noted that he wanted to provide general information to Zelenskyy before visiting the French overseas department of Mayotte, which was hit by the most powerful cyclone in the last century.
Avant de me rendre auprès des Mahorais, au Conseil européen j’ai tenu à faire un point d'ensemble avec le Président @ZelenskyyUa.
— Emmanuel Macron (@EmmanuelMacron) December 18, 2024
La France reste, comme au premier jour, aux côtés de l'Ukraine et du peuple ukrainien pour faire échec à la guerre d’agression de la Russie. pic.twitter.com/4YVxK7GhGo
“France, as on the first day, stands by Ukraine and the Ukrainian people to defeat Russia's war of aggression,” Macron emphasized.
Zelenskyy's statement
In turn, Zelenskyy called the meeting with his French counterpart “productive.”
"We had a detailed one-on-one discussion, focusing on key priorities to further strengthen Ukraine’s position against Russian aggression. A clear focus remains enhancing air defense capabilities," President reported on X.
Zelenskyy expressed gratitude to France for training one brigade for the Ukrainian army.
"We agreed to continue this cooperation and prepare one more brigade. We hope other partners will join this effort by contributing to equipping additional Ukrainian brigades," Zelenskyy said.
According to Zelenskyy, the parties share "a common vision: reliable guarantees are essential for a peace that can truly be achieved."
"We continued working on President Macron’s initiative regarding the presence of forces in Ukraine that could contribute to stabilizing the path to peace," the Ukrainian President said in a statement.
Zelenskyy added that Macron told him about "his communication with other partners aimed at ensuring all necessary steps are taken for peace."
I had a productive meeting with French President @EmmanuelMacron. We had a detailed one-on-one discussion, focusing on key priorities to further strengthen Ukraine’s position against Russian aggression. A clear focus remains enhancing air defense capabilities.
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) December 18, 2024
I expressed… pic.twitter.com/LsVjA8MRge
It should be noted that Macron will not attend Zelenskyy's meeting with European leaders.
The reason for this was a natural disaster, the powerful cyclone Chido.
